Our family owned 5 dogs, and recently we had to have two removed from the home due to a severe fight, that almost ended in them killing eachother. I realze that the two females were trying to establish Alpha, but they had to be removed from our home. Now I have three male dogs remaining in the home, one is a Lab(Max), one is Lab/Chow(Emmitt) mix and one we believe is Lab/CHow or Lab/Rottie mix(King). We have had all dogs since birth. Our oldestMax- he is 8) does not have a problem with either dog, Emmitt is 6 , King is 4. Emmitt has always had a problem with other dogs coming in to his space and we have always made him subdue his aggression. King is very laid back but is an insticator. Both dogs are very gentle with humans especially our children, they just seem to have a problem with eachother and it has gotten worse since the Alpha female has left the home. They have not fought yet but usually Emmitt will start to growl at King ,then King will continue to follow Emmitt around like he wants to get into a fight. These dogs are very big animals both wiegh more than 100 lbs. It has been suggested to me that we purchase the Gentle Leader collar, and place it on the two aggressive dogs and to leave it on them at all times. I was told that this would make both dogs feel as if they were the Beta dogs. Has anyone ever heard of this type of training? Does anyone have any suggestions? We love our animals and do not want to get rid of another, but we can not handle another situation like what the females did to eachother. We don't want the dogs huting eachother or one of our children. Please help!!

A gentle leader is NOT going to help. Without an alpha it is almost required that the dogs fight to establish a new alpha. With 3 dogs you still have a pack with all the difficulties of pack dynamics. It takes an extremely experienced handler to deal with this. I'm tempted to start blathering about chows and chow temperments, but god knows what the mixes are at this point, obviously they're big and they're trying to establish themselves and a gentle leader is not going to help. These dogs are not going to stop fighting until an alpha is established and it doesn't sound like you have the necessary experience to take that position yourself. My advice is to find a home for Emmett that does not have other dogs and that will do obedience work with him--this is not a dog for someone with a weak personality. Then start training your other dogs. Get a trainer. Get videos whatever, but you need to establish your dominance over the two remaining dogs. I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but this is not a good situation--and I personally hate hearing of Chows and chow crosses in impossible situations--it just does further damage to the reputation of the breed.

Good Luck

these dogs should not have access to each other!

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It has been suggested to me that we purchase the Gentle Leader collar, and place it on the two aggressive dogs and to leave it on them at all times.

You're welcome to try it if you'd like, but I would put money on it that it won't work.

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They have not fought yet but usually Emmitt will start to growl at King ,then King will continue to follow Emmitt around like he wants to get into a fight.

When Emmitt growls at King, can you see whether or not either one of them is giving the other one the "stink eye" (a hard stare) before the growling begins? If so, that is the point where you need to intervene. Hard stares are generally going to be the precursor to further aggression, so any time you see a hard stare happening, the situation needs to be interrupted and put to a stop.

Another question: When King follows Emmitt around, will King respond to a command? In other words, can you call him away from Emmitt at all, or does he tune you out? What concerns me about this is that if Emmitt does not react to King aggressively, King may eventually just corner Emmitt and attack anyway.

I'm glad they haven't fought yet, but it certainly does sound like the potential is there and it's just a matter of time before the tension builds to that point. If you are going to prevent any nasty fights, it's going to be through bomb-proof obedience with both of these guys BEFORE the posturing/stink eye/following around even starts, in other words, at the VERY FIRST signs of tension. When you are not present to monitor these guys, they need to be kept separated.

Sometimes, human interference can actually serve as a trigger for a fight, so keeping them separated all the time might be a safer option.

Another option would be to find a home for King with no other dogs. It does sound like he is the "loose cannon" here.

Sounds like a real touchy situation, and I don't envy your position one bit.